International Women's Day 2012

Published on 09 March 2012

March 8th 2012 was International Women's Day. To commemorate this, we gathered together photographs of expat women from our Archive.

The collection is diverse, ranging from the 1950s to the 1990s, covering the world from Brunei to Norway. The pictures include a forbidden choir in Saudi Arabia, a Dutch lady being shown how to use a water pump in Bangladesh, and a 1950s expat lady buying wares from a Nigerian tribeman.

One surprising thing we noticed was the lack of photographs in a domestic or workplace setting. Perhaps this is something to think about as you document your expat life - do you only take photos at social events, trips and holidays? Your home and work life might seem less interesting or exciting, but in years to come it is photographs of these that could provide a real insight into what life was like.

Around 90% of the submissions to our Archive are from women, although of course the material given to us documents the lives of the whole family. We are grateful for all the donations to date, and are always looking for more. Become part of the social history of expat life by sharing your story with us.